John F. Kennedy and Benazir Bhutto: On the 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination:   “I was travelling with my father in the Foreign Minister’s private railway carriage in the autumn of 1963 when he shook me awake. “This is no time to sleep,” he said urgently. “There has been a great tragedy. The young

Return of the Mensis Horribilis: PTI’s Intra-party Elections: Shireen Mazari’s opportunist return to the party fold Intra-party elections weaken party unity, defections imminent Internally elected party leaders ignored in allocation of party tickets     Last year, the Let Us Build Pakistan blog had catalogued a series

The Life and Legacy of Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed: Remember, remember, the 27th of December! The night that tore the heavens asunder! In her autobiography, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed writes of the time when she was allowed to travel to England in 1984 for medical treatment by the most

Fawad Chaudhry’s vintage remarks on PPP govt: Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, colloquially referred to as Fawad Chaudhry, is often seen on national TV these days as a representative of the Pakistan Peoples Party. It’s hard to believe that, a little over two years ago, Chaudhry was the media spokesman

Blame the victim: DAWN newspaper’s role in Shia Genocide: The Taliban regime of Mullah Omer ruled Afghanistan, or at least a majority of Afghan territory, from 1995 till October 2001 when the US began a retaliatory military campaign against the country to avenge the September 11th terrorist attacks.

Liberal love galore for Altaf Hussain!: On October 14, Muttahida Qaumi Movement founder and leader Altaf Hussain delivered a speech in support of the adolescent Pashtun female education advocate Malala Yousufzai who was grievously injured in an assassination attempt and is still under intensive care

The Mensis Horribilis of PTI: Embittered Mazari mother-daughter duo depart in disgust! Mazari exit preceded by Hoti’s desertion PTI local leaders run rogue, promote mob rule For the past few days, the former cricketer turned politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Movement for Justice or PTI

WEF appraisal of PPP govt’s performance: The World Economic Forum has released its annual Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 which assesses the business environment in individual countries and domestic conditions that improve or impede it. “The Global Competitiveness Report 2012-2013 assesses the competitiveness landscape of 144 economies, providing

On Altafism, Sufi folklore and Nadeem Paracha’s adoration of the MQM: Nadeem Farooq Paracha, noted left-liberal Pakistani columnist and satirist, is viewed by some in Pakistan’s limited English speaking circles as a prominent authority on the history of Pakistani culture and society. For the younger generation, Mr Paracha came into

Did Ali Dayan Hasan (of HRW) recant statement against ISI?: The newly appointed Director General of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) may have attained an understated and unsung victory for his intelligence agency considering the recent and highly surprising statement by Human Rights Watch’s Pakistan head Ali Dayan Hasan that

US apology to Pakistan: A clear vindication of Pakistan Government and Chairperson PPP – by Ravez Junejo: NOVEMBER 24, 2011: Two Apache helicopters, part of a wider group of NATO air support, flew into within 1km distance from Pakistani airspace and launch an unprovoked attack at two border checkposts in the Salala area of Mohmand Agency,